Cat
by Nemorae
Summary: When Ichigo was ten years old, he noticed that a small black cat had been following him around. (Oneshot)


When Ichigo was around ten years old, he noticed that a small black cat had taken to following him around.

It wasn't exactly _obvious_ , since the small cat preferred watching Ichigo from across the street, or just around the bend, but it was clear enough that even Ichigo's ten-year old mind knew that he had a feline stalker.

Once Ichigo did notice, he became somewhat worried. This cat seemed to show up at the most random of times- whether it was watching him at lunch, or while he got onto the bus before and after school.

Obviously he had tried making contact several times before, but often by the time he got close enough, the cat bolted.

Plus, he wasn't really sure why, but something seemed almost... _off_ , about that cat. Like it wasn't normal. It had a certain aura of mysteriousness, and Ichigo wanted to know why.

He'd tried telling his dad, but his dad just laughed. "Don't worry about it, son," Isshin had said with a grin while ruffling Ichigo's hair. "You're probably just imagining things." Ichigo, of course, protested that he was _not_ imagining things, but Isshin just waved him off and told him to do something else.

The next day at lunch, Ichigo spotted the cat just outside the school gate. Determined to finally get close to the feline, he tried to walk over slowly, but predictably, the cat ran off once more. Ichigo was disheartened, but he left a little bit of his lunch near the school gate just in case the cat came back, then walked away.

Ten minutes later, Ichigo was rewarded with the cat slowly slinking back. It (Ichigo couldn't figure out its gender) looked at the piece of sandwich with confusion, as if wondering how food just suddenly appeared. It glanced at Ichigo, who smiled and nodded towards the sandwich, inviting the cat to eat it. The cat cautiously grabbed the food in its mouth, then ran off to eat it.

Ichigo smiled triumphantly. _Finally._

* * *

Yoruichi wasn't sure what to do.

She had begun to follow Ichigo around a couple months after Masaki's death, since Isshin had begun worrying that Ichigo might once more be the target of a hollow attack.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Yoruichi was incredibly out of practice when it came to following people around even in her cat form, because after only a few weeks, it was clear that Ichigo had noticed her.

Noticed her, _and_ had tried interacting with her.

Ichigo knew she wasn't just a normal cat as well. He seemed overly cautious for just what appeared to be a stray alley cat, even going to far as complaining to Isshin that a small black cat was following him around, and that it gave him "a weird feeling".

Just this afternoon, Ichigo had tried to give Yoruichi part of his lunch. Since Yoruichi took it, she could only assume that Ichigo would probably continue his attempts to make friends with her, which could be problematic.

After all, Isshin didn't want Ichigo to be fully exposed to the Spirit World yet, and if Ichigo continued to interact with Yoruichi, discovery of shinigami, hollows, etc. would undoubtedly follow.

So. She could cease all contact with Ichigo, and just leave him wondering why the black cat left, or she could continue to track him, and risk being Ichigo discovering the Spirit World early.

Yoruichi was quite tempted to go with option one, and that would solve a lot of her problems. However, Ichigo _was_ still a prime hollow target, and not to mention…well, she didn't want to admit it, but she had grown rather fond of watching Ichigo's daily routine. She couldn't really explain why, but seeing Ichigo happy and interacting with his friends and family just made Yoruichi feel happy as well. It was because of this that she was reluctant to stop following Ichigo. And yet, she was aware that she shouldn't be selfish, and it was probably in her best interests if she stopped following the young boy around.

She wondered idly if that would hurt Ichigo's feelings, but in retrospect, he would probably be relieved that the strange cat finally stopped tailing him.

* * *

Ichigo was worried.

The cat that had been following him around for a few months had just up and vanished. Ichigo knew that it was most likely just an alley cat, but still. What if had gotten run over by a car? Or caught by animal control? Ichigo found himself worrying about the cat so much that he would even go out of his way to look around for the small feline.

 _Why am I even so worried?_ , he had wondered before. Truth is, he didn't really know. Maybe he felt an odd sort of comfort when the cat was near, as if the cat was a sort of guardian spirit, as if it was his protector.

 _Oh maybe that's it_ , Ichigo realized. _Maybe it was a spirit. It was following me because I'm one of the few people that can see it._ _Perhaps the cat just...passed on._ Somewhat satisfied with his explanation, Ichigo put all thoughts of the strange cat away, and went off the school.

Weeks passed, and Ichigo had more-or-less forgotten about the cat. There were still occasions where he would glance behind him, expecting to see the cat, but other than that, the cat had more or less left his mind completely.

That is, until he caught it eyeing him from the bushes on Thursday afternoon.

Shocked yet overjoyed, Ichigo ran towards it. The cat instantly ran off, but Ichigo stubbornly persevered, determined to know where it was going.

Five minutes later, the cat had proven to fast for Ichigo, and Ichigo was left panting, trying to get his bearings. He looked around, trying to figure out where the cat went. He wasn't sure why, but he tried to reach out, as if trying to sense the cats odd aura.

Much to Ichigo's surprise, a sea of white ribbons suddenly sprouted out of the ground, all radiating different auras. Much to his shock, he even recognized a few of them. Inoue's cheerful aura, Tatsuki's intimidating one…Ichigo searched desperately for the cat's odd yet comforting aura, yet couldn't find it. However, just as he had lost hope, he spotted a red ribbon floating amongst the sea of white, and grabbed onto it. _Here!_ He thought triumphantly as the cat's aura washed over him. He could see a sort of path, leading him to the cat. _Finally, I'll find out who you really are._

* * *

Yoruichi was cursing her own stupidity.

She had stopped following Ichigo for a while, only looking at him very occasionally, and was pleased to see that he didn't seem too affected by her disappearance.

Of course, he just _had_ to spot her when she was watching him from the bushes.

She hightailed it as fast as she could, but Ichigo was incredibly persistent. She couldn't use shunpo- that would be _way_ too obvious, so she was left ducking around bends, trying to lose Ichigo in the streets.

Finally, when she was sure that she shook of her pursuer, she made her way to Urahara's shop. She entered, and saw Kisuke sitting down, looking somewhat amused.

"Ah, Yoruichi-san! This is an unexpected visit!" Kisuke said cheerfully with a snap of his fan. "What brings you to this humble candy shop?" Yoruichi glared at him. Or, at least, glared at him as well as a cat _could_ glare.

"Ichigo spotted me watching him, and decided it would be a _wonderful_ idea to chase me down a bunch of streets. That kid is surprisingly persistent, but I lost him in the end," Yoruichi responded as she patted over to Kisuke's lap, and curled in it for a nap.

Kisuke just smiled, and tipped his hat down slightly. "Ah, Yoruichi-san, are you quite sure you lost him?"

"Yes," Yoruichi responded irritably. "Why?"

"Well….if I'm not mistaken, I do believe that is _his_ reiatsu currently making its way to our location at a surprisingly fast speed…"

Yoruichi flinched, sensing Ichigo's rapidly approaching reiatsu. "What the heck! How'd he find me?!" she complained. She was about to run off in yet another attempt to escape Ichigo, but right then, Ichigo barreled into the shop, panting hard. He stared at Yoruichi, then at Kisuke. When he finally had enough breath to speak, he said,

"Uh, excuse me sir, but is this your cat?" Kisuke just smiled, and nodded.

"Why yes, yes she is," he chirped happily. Yoruichi dug her claws into his legs and he made a slightly strangled sound. "She's- erk! Quite the feisty one as well- owch!"

Ichigo was a loss for words for a minute, but then he took a deep breath and held up a red ribbon that was radiating Yoruichi's reiatsu.

"I found your cat using this," he said. "Would you mind telling me what it is?"

 _Well, shoot_ , Yoruichi thought with a sinking heart.

 **This was my first story so I hope you liked it! :) I just hope I caught all of the grammar and spelling issues... :/**


End file.
